Case of Crosley Green: Was an innocent man convicted of murder 25 years ago?

Crosley Green has had plenty of days in court. 

Unfortunately for the Titusville man, who has spent more than 25 years in prison on a murder conviction, they have never resulted in anything but a return trip to his cell.

Wednesday's hearing before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has the potential to go a little differently. Green's lawyers will make the case for his "actual innocence" that could allow his appeal to move forward.

Prosecutors say Green never asserted actual innocence before and therefore should be time barred from pursuing any more appeals.

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"Crosley Green has spent more than 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit," Green's attorney Keith Harrison of the Washington D.C.-based law firm Crowell & Moring said in a document filed with the 11th Circuit Court late last week and made public over the weekend.

"However, should there be any doubt, Green presents compelling evidence of actual innocence that more than meets the standard of proof required for the gateway exception to any statutory time bar — that it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

Green was convicted of killing Charles "Chip" Flynn and kidnapping his girlfriend, Kim Hallock, from a Mims orange grove in 1989. He spent nearly 20 years on death row before his sentence was commuted to life in 2009.

Flynn and Hallock went to the orange grove to smoke marijuana and have sex, according to court documents. This was odd. Flynn's parents — both deceased — told investigators and the media that their son had happily moved on from his relationship with Hallock and was seeing someone else.

Hallock told police that while they were in the orange grove, a black man attacked them, tying Flynn's hands behind his back, before driving the three of them in Flynn's truck. Hallock told police that Flynn was able to reach down and grab his gun from beneath his seat and fire at their attacker. No gunshot residue was ever found on Flynn's hand.

She also said the black man who shot Flynn was holding what looked like an automatic gun.

Hallock said she was able to escape, and then she drove Flynn's truck past several payphones and a hospital before arriving at Flynn's friend's home. She even drove past her parents' home before calling police.

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When police arrived at the orange grove, Flynn refused to tell them who had shot him, answering only "get me out of here." Initially his injuries did not appear life-threatening but he died before an ambulance could reach him. 

According to Harrison, at the heart of Green's claim of innocence is the assertion that Brevard County prosecutors failed to disclose that responding officers Diane Clark and Mark Rixey — who were both with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office — concluded that Kim Hallock and not Green had killed Flynn.

"The impact of that evidence on a reasonable juror, even considered alone, would have a devastating impact," Harrison wrote. 

Other problems with the case, according to Harrison, are the numerous recanted statements by prosecution witnesses who said they were coerced by prosecutors and testified under duress; the photo lineup that prosecutor Chris White admitted was flawed; Green did not match Hallock's description of the alleged attacker; and that the state also improperly withheld a recorded conversation shortly after the crime between Hallock and Flynn's father that apparently contained numerous inconsistencies in her account.

Florida Assistant Attorney General Kellie Nielan contends that when put into context, and viewed with the evidence presented at trial, "any claim of actual innocence must be rejected."

"There is no new physical evidence showing that someone else murdered Chip Flynn, nor is there new physical evidence showing that Green did not murder Chip Flynn," Nielan wrote the court last week. 

She also downplayed comments made by the two responding deputies. 

"The first impressions of the responding deputies, who had no further involvement in the investigation, are not even evidence and prove nothing," she wrote.

Green had earlier fought for DNA testing of two body hairs found in the truck but results showed that he could not be excluded as a possible match. Tim Curtis, who sold the truck to Flynn, testified during a post-conviction hearing that Green's brother O'Connor had been in the truck several times with him.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Contact Torres at 321-242-3684

or jtorres@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @johnalbertorres

Facebook: /ftjohntorres